Is Putin ‘Challenging’ Jihadists to ‘Come After Him’ in Sochi?

TheBlaze’s national security adviser Buck Sexton said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “absolutely ruthless,” and by holding the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, “you see him challenging the jihadists to come after him” because “he wins either way.”

Sochi is located near the Caucasus Mountains, which has long been a hotbed of Islamic extremism, so Sexton said the Olympic Games present a “huge” and “very accessible” target for jihadists.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov (L) attend an award ceremony for young scientists in the Kremlin February 11, 2014 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)

“If they don’t [attack], it’s because [the Russians have] managed through very serious, repressive and violent anti-jihadist campaigns to suppress the Caucasus Emirate,” Sexton explained on the Glenn Beck Program. “And if they do attack, it’ll be a replay of everyone saying, ‘We need a stronger Russian state. We need a stronger FSB…to protect us from these people.'”

Sexton said that while many Americans don’t realize it, Russia has had its own deadly battle against Islamic extremists for years. In addition to the Beslan Massacre and the Moscow theater hostage crisis, there have also been multiple jet airliners brought down by suicide bombers.

Historically, Sexton added, the Russians have taken a very different approach to the conflict than the west. Their philosophy is more along the lines of: “You want to set up jihadis in sniper positions? We’re going to level the building. You want to take over a mosque? The mosque is gone.”

Sexton said the Russian security services will “assassinate people very openly and very happily.”

“They don’t want to give these guys trials, Glenn, they want to eliminate them,” he explained.

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